Surgical pathologist remembered for
research contributions

by Cindy AbolePublic
Relations
William L. Gerald, M.D., Ph.D., a renowned surgical pathologist,
scientist and former MUSC faculty member and alumnus, died Sept. 14 in
Pelham, New York, after battling with cancer. Gerald was 54 years old.

Dr. William Gerald

Gerald was born March 2, 1954, to Thelma and the late Cleeland T.
Gerald. He attended McClenaghan High School in Florence and earned his
undergraduate degree at the University of South Carolina in Columbia
before attending the Medical University of South Carolina. He completed
his residency and anatomic pathology fellowship at Yale University in
New Haven, Conn. He returned to MUSC and was an assistant professor in
the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine from 1988 to 1992.
In 1992, he moved to New York to become an assistant attending and
professor at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
Gerald’s specialty and interest was in cancers of young people and the
molecular biology of cancer. His work focused on identifying and
characterizing the clinically relevant molecular alterations in human
cancers and gene expression.

“It is with great sorrow that I am writing this in memory of William
Gerald,” said Lee Chao, Ph.D., professor, Department of Biochemistry
& Molecular Biology. “I have known him for more than 30 years. He
was a dear friend and one of my former graduate students in the early
1980s. He did his doctoral thesis in my laboratory by cloning and
studying the expression of rat kallikrein gene. He had to make all the
required reagents before commencing his research work because none of
the reagents were commercially available. We had to use homemade
sequencing equipment to perform DNA sequencing and protein
electrophoresis. Despite these difficulties, he was able to
successfully dissect the molecular mechanisms of genetic regulatory
circuit with a great deal of sophistication even by today’s standard.
He had a great sense of humor and was kind to others. He was easy going
and fun to be with. He was the kind of person you wish you could have
as a colleague, friend and neighbor. I will miss him dearly.”

Gerald was a member of both American and Canadian pathology
associations, the American Society for Investigative Pathology,
Association for Molecular pathology and American Association for Cancer
Research. He served on numerous academic and hospital committees
locally and nationally. He wrote and reviewed numerous research
articles and grants.

“Dr. Gerald was a wonderful person and my life was immeasurably richer
from having known him,” said Cynthia K. Gittinger, Cell Biology and
Anatomy. “I had the opportunity to work with William when he returned
to MUSC in 1988 as a faculty member with a vision of establishing a
Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory at MUSC. He possessed an outstanding
scientific mind coupled with kindness, gentleness of spirit,
generosity, and an easy humor; he touched the lives of so many, both
professionally and personally. I was fortunate over these many years to
have shared his laughter; the loss is almost too much to bear. A true
southern gentleman with a great appreciation for nature, boats and
Appalachian blues that will be deeply missed by all who had the
privilege of sharing his company.”

He is survived by wife, Lucta Johnson Allen; children, William
Cleeland, Emma, Grace Lucta, Anne Marshall, Sarah Todd and other
family. A memorial service for Gerald was held Sept. 18 in Pelham, N.Y.
A local memorial service in South Carolina will be arranged at a later
date.

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